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Suboxone Addiction

Suboxone is typically prescribed for the treatment of other opioid use disorders, particularly those involving prescription opioid pain relief medications and heroin. It consists of naloxone and buprenorphine, which makes it effective at preventing the painful symptoms of withdrawal that you would experience if you stopped abusing another opioid drug.

However, Suboxone can also lead to the development of an opioid use disorder that you would also have to work against. For this reason, it is recommended that you check into a professional drug rehab program once you start abusing this medication.

About Suboxone

Suboxone is a brand name medication that is typically prescribed for the treatment of addictions involving other illegal, prescription, and legal opioid drugs like heroin and OxyContin.

It contains two main ingredients, naloxone and buprenorphine. The buprenorphine component is a partial opioid agonist. This means that it works by blocking the opiate receptors in the brain as well as reducing your urges to abuse opioid drugs.

Naloxone, on the other hand, can reverse the adverse side effects that arise when you abuse opioids. Taken together, these substances can help you overcome your opioid withdrawal symptoms.

Suboxone is now considered the most preferred maintenance medication for the treatment of opioid addiction. For this reason, many drug rehab centers use it more often than methadone because of methadone's higher habit-forming nature.

This drug is also unlike many other opiate replacement and maintenance medications in the sense that you do not need to get a prescription from specialized treatment centers. This is because any doctor can prescribe Suboxone.

Other Names for Suboxone

Suboxone is sold under a wide variety of brand name drugs including but not limited to the following:

  • Bunavail
  • Buprenex
  • Butrans
  • Cizdol
  • Norspan
  • Probuphine
  • Suboxone Film
  • Temgesic
  • Zubsolv

However, it is like any other drug of abuse in the sense that it is sold under various nicknames on the streets. Some of the popular street names for this drug include:

  • Boxes
  • Bupes
  • Oranges
  • Saboxins
  • Sobos
  • Stop signs
  • Stops
  • Subs

Signs and Symptoms of Suboxone Addiction

If you become addicted to Suboxone, you may find yourself continuing to take the drug irrespective of the negative effects that you suffer as a result. The following are some of the additional signs and symptoms of Suboxone addiction:

  • Apathetic mood
  • Appetite loss
  • Attempt to acquire Suboxone from the wrong illicit sources
  • Bankruptcy
  • Chewing your pills before swallowing them
  • Craving the drug
  • Crushing your pills before snorting them
  • Depression
  • Diarrhea
  • Dilated pupils
  • Divorce
  • Driving while intoxicated
  • Drowsiness
  • Erratic behavior
  • Experiencing increased conflicts with your family and friends due to ongoing drug use
  • Failing out of school
  • Fainting
  • Fever
  • Financial problems
  • Getting arrested
  • Getting in trouble with law enforcement officials due to drug use
  • Giving up the activities you once used to enjoy so that you can obtain and continue using Suboxone
  • Going to multiple doctors so that you can get more of the drug, or engaging in doctor shopping.
  • Having to take more of the drug so that you can feel its pleasurable and desirable effects (development of tolerance)
  • High blood pressure
  • Home foreclosure
  • Impaired cognition
  • Impaired speech
  • Losing your home
  • Losing your job
  • Losing your relationship or marriage
  • Loss of child custody
  • Loss of important personal and professional relationships
  • Loss of job
  • Lying to get your hands on this drug
  • Mixing crushed Suboxone pills with a liquid so that you can take them intravenously
  • Muscle aches
  • Nausea
  • Poor coordination
  • Poor memory
  • Poor performance at school and work due to ongoing Suboxone abuse
  • Sleep trouble
  • Slurred speech
  • Spending a great deal of your time and money looking for, getting, using, and recovering from using this drug
  • Stealing to acquire this drug
  • Sweating
  • Take the drug through methods that are not recommended or intended
  • Taking multiple doses of the drug at the same time
  • Taking the drug for longer durations or in larger doses than you originally intended
  • Tearing
  • Using this drug even in situations that end up posing a physical hazard to you and other, such as while operating machinery or driving
  • Vomiting

Short and Long-Term Effects of Suboxone Abuse

When you abuse Suboxone, you may experience a wide variety of effects. Although some of these effects are pleasurable - and will keep you abusing the drug - the great majority of them are negative. These short and long term side effects of Suboxone use and abuse include:

  • A sense of happiness and well-being
  • Addiction
  • Blurred vision
  • Body aches
  • Breathing difficulties
  • Calmness
  • Confidence
  • Confusion
  • Constipation
  • Constricted pupils
  • Dark urine
  • Decreased pain sensations
  • Diarrhea
  • Dilated pupils
  • Dizziness
  • Drowsiness
  • Euphoria
  • Fading in and out of consciousness and alertness
  • Feeling jittery
  • Feeling no stress
  • Flu-like symptoms
  • Hair loss
  • Headache
  • Insomnia
  • Irritability
  • Joint pain
  • Light-colored bowel movements
  • Lightheadedness
  • Loss of control over your emotions
  • Loss of libido
  • Low blood pressure
  • Low energy
  • Lung problems
  • Mood swings
  • Muscle aches
  • Muscle cramps
  • Muscle pain
  • Nausea
  • Pain relief
  • Poor stress management
  • Reduced motivation
  • Relaxation
  • Respiratory issues
  • Severe stomach pain
  • Significant liver damage
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Slowed breathing
  • Stomach pain
  • Sweating
  • Unusual fatigue
  • Vomiting
  • Yellow skin
  • Yellowing in the eye whites

Suboxone Overdose

At times, Suboxone is administered to reduce other drug overdose situations. However, you can also overdose on this drug if you use it incorrectly, such as if you inject it. You can also overdose on Suboxone pills, strips, and other formulations of the medication if you take a large enough dose.

Some of the side effects of this type of drug overdose include:

  • Blue fingers or lips
  • Blurry vision
  • Collapse
  • Death
  • Dizziness
  • Drowsiness
  • Fainting
  • Slowed breathing
  • Small pupils
  • Stopped breathing

If you suffer any of these symptoms after taking Suboxone in excess, you should call 911 or your local poisons control center as soon as possible. This is because a drug overdose is a medical emergency because it can lead to fatal or life-threatening outcomes.

Suboxone Withdrawal Symptoms

If you are dependent on and addicted to Suboxone and you suddenly stop using it or significantly reduce your usual dose, you could suffer some withdrawal symptoms. Most of these symptoms are similar to what you would experience if you were addicted to another opioid drug.

Further, the severity of your withdrawal symptoms will largely depend on the duration and degree of your opioid use disorder, the doses you were taking, and the existence of other co-occurring addictions. These symptoms of withdrawal may also include:

  • Abdominal cramps
  • Agitation
  • Anxiety
  • Appetite changes
  • Body aches
  • Cold sweats
  • Cold symptoms
  • Confusion
  • Constipation
  • Depression
  • Diarrhea
  • Difficulties staying asleep
  • Excessive sweating
  • Fatigue
  • Flu-like symptoms
  • General malaise
  • Headaches
  • High blood pressure
  • Inability to concentrate
  • Inability to fall asleep
  • Insomnia
  • Intense moodiness
  • Intense muscle pain
  • Irritability
  • Mood swings
  • Nausea
  • Paranoia
  • Physical cravings for the drug
  • Severe night sweats
  • -Sneezing
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Vomiting

If you suffer these withdrawal symptoms and you have an underlying mental health disorder like depression and anxiety, this disorder may be exacerbated. You may also suffer recurring episodes of Suboxone withdrawal if you continue abusing the drug.

The Best Options for Suboxone Addiction Treatment

Suboxone addiction treatment can help you overcome your abuse of this drug in a controlled and safe manner. This type of drug rehab is offered on both an inpatient and outpatient basis.

Irrespective of the option you choose, you will first have to go through a medically supervised detox process. The goal of detox would be to help you overcome your physical dependence on Suboxone by managing your drug cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

After detox has been deemed successful, you can check into an inpatient or an outpatient addiction treatment program. Your choice of a program will largely depend on the severity and duration of your addiction, the existence of other co-occurring medical and mental health disorders, the existence of another addiction, and your needs and preferences.

It is recommended that you seek drug rehabilitation services as soon as you realize that you have been abusing Suboxone, particularly if you have already started experiencing withdrawal symptoms when you stop abusing this drug. Through these services, you may be able to achieve full sobriety and abstinence both in the short and in the long term.

CITATIONS

http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_chem_info/buprenorphine.pdf#search=buprenorphine

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5855417/

medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a605002.html#discontinued

mentalhealthdaily.com/2015/10/28/how-long-does-suboxone-stay-in-your-system/

nationalpainreport.com/sharp-rise-in-suboxone-emergency-room-visits-8818470.html

pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/buprenorphine#section=Metabolism-Metabolites

pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/naloxone#section=Top

www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_chem_info/buprenorphine.pdf

www.naabt.org/documents/Suboxone_Dosing_guide.pdf

www.naabt.org/faq_answers.cfm?ID=2

www.naabt.org/faq_answers.cfm?ID=33

www.nationalpainreport.com/suboxone-new-drug-epidemic-8821747.html

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3835595/

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23688843

www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/health/in-demand-in-clinics-and-on-the-street-bupe-can-be-savior-or-menace.html

www.samhsa.gov/atod/opioids

www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/DAWN106/DAWN106/sr106-buprenorphine.htm

www.suboxone.com/content/pdfs/prescribing-information.pdf

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